The adventures of Donna Noble and John Smith
by SevenJetC
Summary: He might have been thinking about himself as the Doctor, but to the world, he was John Smith. And to his discontent, he was stuck on the good old Earth, with Donna Noble. Post EoT


Chapter 1 - Jump

Once the relationship between him and Rose was over, there really wasn't a point in staying in the wrong universe. That's why the man, who called himself John Smith, while still thinking about himself as the Doctor, took the dimensional transporter and jumped into the universe of his origin. The plan was simple - get home, find the Doctor and Donna and join them in their travels. Therefore he chose Chiswick as his destination, sure sooner or later they would turn up, probably surprised to find him there. He was more than certain that his counterpart was not going to be happy about him punching a hole in the fabric of universe and leaving Rose behind. But he was sure the Doctor would calm down once the explaining was done and off they would go. The plan really was simple. Of course, as this universe seemed to be fond of never letting things to go his way, it all went not at all according to the plan.

He knew something was off the moment he knocked on the door of Donna's house. It was answered by Wilf, who crushed him in a bear hug.

"I knew you would be alright in the end," he said, not letting go, pretty much squeezing all the air out of Doctor's lungs. Wilf's reaction kind of surprised him and he realized that there would be some serious explaining to be done. "But you cannot be here, what if Donna sees you. Come on, there is a little nice pub over the corner."

He let the chattering Wilf to drag him away from the Nobles' household. He had no idea what was going on, but he kind of suspected that nothing good happened while he was away. They sat down in the pub and he already gave up trying to stop Wilf from talking in order to tell him who he really was, instead deciding to gather some information first.

"You were all going on about dying and here you are, healthy and sound. I knew you'd be alright in the end. So you are here about Donna, you found a way to fix her?"

"Fix her?" he echoed, puzzled. The realization was like being stabbed with a cold knife in the gut. Of course, fix her. Time Lord brain and human body, that could have never worked. He was partly human, but not enough to affect his ability to function with Time Lord consciousness. However, Donna was pure human. Whatever had happened to her, whatever his counterpart had to do, it couldn't be good. His spirit sank, as his plans to travel with the Doctor and Donna vanished like a smoke in the wind. "No. I am not here to fix her, I'm sorry, Wilfred. I just want to know how is she?"

"Not good, son, not at all. She lost everything," Wilf's face fell and he looked gloomily at his beer.

"Everything?" The Doctor inquired.

"The lottery ticket you gave her? All the money she won? That husband of hers, he spent it all. He went mad once he had them, such a good lad he was before and then..." Wilfred waved his hand. "He'd spent it on useless stuff and parties and gambling. She barely had the money to pay all the debts he managed to do before the divorce finalized. Now she is working as an assistant and I can tell she is really unhappy. You know how Sylvia can be and she is nagging at her too..."

"She got married?" the Doctor asked. Wilfred gave him a puzzled look.

"You were there at the wedding."

"I'm sorry, Wilfred, but I wasn't. It wasn't me, it was the other me."

"Other you?"

"It's complicated. I am the Doctor, but I am not really the Doctor. I just returned from a parallel dimension and I wanted to find the other Doctor and I thought that Donna is with him and therefore you would help me to find them and..." He looked out of the window and saw Donna there, standing with her mouth agape. She was staring at him. He blinked few times and then said: "Wilfred, what did the other me said that would happen if she ever sees him again?"

"He said that her mind would explode and she would die."

"Well," he nodded in Donna's direction and Wilf turned his head just in time to see his granddaughter turning from the window and running towards the door. "Something is going to explode, but I kind of think it is going to be her temper."

Donna entered the pub like a woman on a mission, pointing her finger at him. "You! It's you!"

The Doctor quickly stood up, forgetting that the human part of him got slightly dizzy when he did that. Or maybe it was seeing Donna again.

"Hello, Donna," he managed to say before being crushed in another hug. The slap followed just as soon as he was released and he slightly staggered as it landed, much to the amusement of all the other guests.

"This is for erasing my memory," Donna nearly shouted, not caring if the people around her thought that she went insane. The second slap barely scraped the Doctor's shoulder as he dodged. "That is for letting me think I was crazy."

The Doctor grabbed her hands before she could hit him anymore. She struggled a bit before stopping and looking up at him. There were tears in her eyes as she said again: "I thought I was crazy."

"I'm sorry, Donna. I really am. But I am not the one you think I am," he laid her hand on his chest, allowing her to feel his one and only heart beating. Her eyes got bigger as the realization hit her, but she didn't say a word. He let go off her hands and she kept them on his chest couple seconds longer, before quickly pulling them away.

"I need a beer," she sighed and pulled a chair to the table. They waited until her glass arrived before anyone of them found the courage to speak first.

"How long since you've remembered?" asked the Doctor.

"Nearly a year ago. At first I thought those were just weird dreams, but the more I thought about it, the more I remembered and I started to realize that those were not dreams, but memories," she tried to sound calm and composed but the Doctor could tell that she was more than a little upset.

"Why haven't you said something, sweetheart?" Wilfred laid a hand over hers, but she pulled it away.

"What was I supposed to say, Granddad? 'Oh, I think I have travelled to distant planets with an alien during the year I cannot remember.', just like that and expect that you would not think I've completely lost it," she turned her attention to the Doctor. "And I really thought I've lost it."

"I'm sorry, but that was not my fault," he defended himself.

"It's always your fault. If you haven't decided to grow out of a hand-"

"Oi, hardly my choice!"

"Don't oi me, Mister! What are you doing here anyway. Weren't you supposed to walk into the sunset with Rose?" she changed the subject.

"I did. The thing about sunsets and walking is that the night comes before you reach them."

"What?"

"We broke up and I came here to find the Doctor."

"Oh, good luck with that. Took me a year last time," she pulled a face.

"Well, if he erased your memory in order to protect you and if Wilf here is correct about him regenerating, I think he is not going to show up anywhere close anytime soon. And we don't even know what he looks like now. And I think that we need to catch up a bit anyway..."

"Don't tell me I am stuck with you now," exclaimed Donna. The smiles on the Doctor's and Wilfred's faces were the answer she did not want to hear.


End file.
